


Blood, Steel, and Honor - A FFXIV Story

by ACasualStarmie



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27559669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACasualStarmie/pseuds/ACasualStarmie
Summary: Honor is important to many Ishgardians. The weight it carries transcends, for some, notions of right and wrong or good and evil. For some, it is everything. Ashanne Lisenne de Zautaire is one of those people. To insult those of her House, from the lowly servant to even she herself, is a crime that demands recompense. When the honor of her retainer, L'thona Ashanne, is sullied, she seeks out the one guilty of said act. L'thona attempts to discourage her Mistress from such an act but, Ashanne must act - to protect the honor of her House, and those within it, with steel and blood.
Kudos: 1





	Blood, Steel, and Honor - A FFXIV Story

The sun had barely taken its place in the skies over  Ishgard when we left Miss  Ashanne’s home.  It  was always cold, even colder before the sun was high in the sky. I shivered beneath my clothing as a cold wind shot through me. No matter how much I tried to bundle myself up, I could never be truly warm in such a place. Still, I could weather the cold, if it meant having a home. 

As she walked, I followed several paces behind, keeping to her flank. She moved with such a confident stride, her heeled boots clicking against the stone path. I could not help but admire her movements. On a normal day, that is all I would have done. But my mind was fraught with worry. 

“Mistress,” I called, a damnable quiver in my voice. Perhaps it was the cold that caused it, but likely it was my fears making  headway? I did not move to keep her pace, and kept my gaze focused ahead. But I could feel her presence bearing down on me, even though she cast no glance in my direction. She said nothing, so I continued, asking the question burning in my mind. “Is this...necessary?” 

It was not often that I doubted my Mistress. But when such moments did arise, she always granted me the leave to express them. It had always been a condition of my service to her, a promise given when she plucked me from the desert along with that of a better life. She had always honored both. 

I do not know why I questioned her. Perhaps I thought I could sway her from the chosen course. A foolish notion. But I could not do nothing. She did not answer at first, her focus steadily forward as we moved against the cold, blistering winds. The silence continued to hold and I felt I would go mad, waiting for some answer, some indication that she had heard me. Only then, on the cusp of that descent into insanity, did she deign herself to answer me.

“It is.” So simple a reply to a question wracked with concern. “You are in my employ. To insult you is to insult me.”

I should have accepted her word as law.  I did not. In that moment, I could not. 

“Mistress, please!” I cried out, moving in front of her, barring her path. My tail had bristled, voice rising as I let emotion take hold. Instantly, I realized my mistake. I dropped my gaze to the ground, my ears flattening. Through the slow welling tears, I tried to explain. “I do not wish to see you harmed because of me.” The words were quiet, so much so that I wondered if she heard me. As it stands, she did. 

“Do you doubt my skill, Thona?” 

Her words were sharp, cutting through the silence like a knife, causing me to wince. I did not want to answer.  But I had regained my senses enough to realize that staying silent would have been ill advised. 

“No, Mistress.” 

Miss  Ashanne was a noted swordswoman, and an accomplished duelist. I did not doubt her skill, but I could not suppress my worry that she would encounter an opponent better one day. Yet another idiotic thought of mine. 

My eyes had been downcast, focused on the toes of her boots when I felt a familiar feeling. Her hand rested atop my head. It slid down, moving to my cheek. Though the leather of her glove was cold, I could somehow still feel the warmth of her skin underneath. Perhaps my imagination was getting away from me. Her thumb stroked my cheek before her hand continued its trek to my chin, tilting my face up to meet her gaze. 

Silence once more took place between us. I could feel myself getting lost pools of scarlet looking back at me. The familiar  scent of her favored perfume,  sweetrose , teased my nostrils during the  lingering quiet. I would have stayed in that silence forever  were it not for her snapping me back to reality by speaking. 

“You have nothing to fear, Thona.” 

It was spoken so matter-of-factly, I could feel my fears ebbing away, but not completely. I nodded. Perhaps my face gave it away. Perhaps Miss  Ashanne truly possessed some method of mind reading because she spoke my thoughts. 

“You are still concerned for my well-being.” She smiled down at me as she stated a fact, one I did not deny. I nodded again and she continued. “A compromise, then.” 

My heart skipped several beats as those words left her lips. A woman of her word, I waited  with bated  breath for her terms, knowing she would be fair and just. 

“I will grant him a single chance to apologize. If he does, that will satisfy the need to restore our honor.” Quiet again. I knew what she would follow with. Such was her way. “If he does not, he will die.” Another declaration, as if her victory over the offender was already a forgone conclusion. A few more moments of silence. “Do you accept these terms, Thona?” 

How could I not? She was far too kind, at least in my mind, so I agreed. A nod was all I could muster beneath the weight of her gaze. I glanced up again, just as the smile crossed her lips again, the warm, disarming smile that I had grown so accustomed seeing. Sometimes, seeing it was payment enough for more work. Her hand released my chin, once again perching  itself atop my head. I smiled, my gaze tilted to the ground. When the hand left, I returned to her flank, following her as she  continued to the  rendezvous point. 

We continued our trek in the cold, arriving at the specified location by  mid-morning . The one my Mistress was set to meet was already present, flanked by his compatriots. They were speaking amongst themselves, quieting once they noticed our presence. My eyes went up to my Mistress for a brief moment but her expression was unreadable. I turned my gaze to the men when she began to speak. 

“My name is  Ashanne Lisenne de  Zautaire ,” she said, her dominant hand going to her blade, pulling it from its sheath. She rolled her shoulders back and then cut an intricate pattern into the air, her pre- duel ritual. 

“I must admit my surprise that you showed up, ” the man said, his tone filled with arrogance and disrespect. He was a tall, gangly creature of an  elezen . Pale skinned, with greasy shoulder-length blonde hair. From the better-than-you attitude, it was easy to tell he was nobility, the kind who talked down to those around him because of silly things like birth or race. Someone like him would not last in the deserts. He wore the same smug expression from the night that had caused us all to meet that morning. “ House  Haillenarte and her servants are oft cowards , but here you stand.” 

I almost regretted accepting Mistress’ offer of leniency. I tuned him out, focusing once more on Miss  Ashanne’s face. Her expressionless mask had not changed but there was a noticeable tightness to her jaw. Perhaps she regretted giving her word as well.

She did not respond to his goad, ignoring it and focusing on the task at hand. She often told me that emotion had no place on a battlefield. 

“You have sullied the honor of my subordinate and, by extension, my house. I am here to rectify your mistake.” Her words were cold and obviously, based on his reaction, had cut deep. 

His anger was not concealed, readable to even the blind. He stomped about like a petulant child, hissing angrily at my Mistress. I could feel my tail bristling at his display. “How dare you!?” The  elezen’s hand went to his weapon, yanking it out and pointing it at Miss  Ashanne . “You waste my time. Begone, woman!” 

“No respect for tradition, either I see,” my Mistress commented, a wry smirk forming on her lips. Her sharpness returned as her next words came. “Your time is irrelevant to me. Rather than reclaim my time by cutting you down, I will offer you a chance to make amends to the woman you have wronged.”

Miss  Ashanne looked back at me, smiling. I returned her smile with a nod and one of my own, before we both turned our focus to the incensed man across from her. 

“Why would I care to make amends to a coward or her whore of a master?” he spat, his temper lost. The brutes behind him merely laughed, soon getting one from him. He sighed and spoke again. “Fine, let us hear this proposal.” 

His petty insults did nothing to deter my Mistress’ form. She showed neither anger, no  frustration . Her face was blank once more. 

“You wag your tongue and cast down those you deem lesser beings. Cut it out and I will deem our dispute resolved.” 

Silence. The look of shock on his face, and the faces of his friends, likely matched mine. I looked back at Miss  Ashanne , fairly certain that my own had not faded from my face. Such an impossible demand. She knew he would not comply with such a thing. But she had offered, upholding her end of the bargain. 

“Madwoman,” he declared, shaking off the weight of her words, and reclaiming his anger. “I will suffer this farce no longer! We will end this now!”

“I have offered you a chance to make amends and you have refused. I will grant you the mercy of a swift end,” Miss  Ashanne said, her tone as sharp and cold as it had been. “I will kill you for the sake of honor, though you possess none.” 

“I will have them carve those words into your tombstone,” the blonde declared. 

The two sword wielders circled one another, the intensity between their gazes seeming to create a circle of pressure almost. I was still afraid, shivering in the cold, but I could not turn my head away. 

The  elezen lunged and brought his weapon to bear on my Mistress. Miss  Ashanne answered with a movement of her own. The duel was over, in that instant. A clang, a flash of steel, and then, the sound of a blade piercing soft flesh. 

The soon-to-be-dead man slumped against Mistress, her body holding him upright as her weapon poked out through his back. The scent of blood filled my nostrils. She had struck the deathblow for certain. She stayed still and spoke loudly. 

“I am  Ashanne Lisenne de  Zautaire .” She echoed her introduction. “Though you possessed no honor in life, you do so now, in death.” Quietly, slowly, she twisted the blade that invaded his body, until the last breath left his body. “May the Fury bring you peace.” 

Miss Ashanne tore the blade free from his chest with a flourish, splattering his lifeblood onto the cold stone, and stepped back. She watched him fall, then looked to his compatriots.    
  
“Should you decide that this duel was dishonorable, call on me,” she said, a dangerous edge to her voice. “I will gladly oblige.” My Mistress turned on her heel, head held high, and walked my direction and past me. She did not stop, nor did she look back. “Come, Thona,” she called. “We are leaving.” 

“Y-yes, Mistress,” I answered, suddenly able to move and walk again. I followed in her wake, looking back only once to see the fallen  elezen’s friends move to retrieve his corpse. I turned my focus back forward, emulating my Mistress’ movements.

In the eyes of the Fury, and in the eyes of Miss  Ashanne , my honor had been restored. As far as I knew, she took no pleasure in the taking of a life. But she was duty bound, by a code of her own, to protect the honor of her family and those who served it. I silently thanked the Fury that I fell into that category. 

- _ fin- _


End file.
